


a thousand apologies

by dreamsdark



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Emotions (tm), Gen, am i really the one making the leona tag, cain and leona talk about feelings thats it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-07 01:55:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18400787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamsdark/pseuds/dreamsdark
Summary: She wished a thousand apologies would be enough.





	a thousand apologies

“Cain! I brought you dinner!” Leona knocked and waited. “Cain?”

Cain was fast asleep, half lying across books open to pages of research on the Crimson Horizon. Even after she practically forced him to take a day off from running around Idelva, he ended up working—just on something else.

“Cain, wake up!” 

It took him a bit to rub the sleep from his eyes. “Leo?” he checked, groggy.

“You should eat something before you sleep.” She doubted he’d even eaten lunch; that was just how he got when he focused on something. 

He brightened when he saw what was on the plate, wasting no time in digging in. “Thanks, Leo! How’d you know I was craving clam?”

“It’s always been one of your favorites, right? But I haven’t made it in a while.”

“It’s just as good as I remember.” Cain smiled, recalling fond memories. “Aren’t you cooking a lot more recently?”

So he’d noticed. “I’ve always liked cooking.” 

“I know, but...” He set down his now-empty plate. “You made another one of my favorites just the day before—it’s almost like you’re trying to make something up to me.”

Leona swallowed. She’d meant to bring it up properly at some point, but...of course making a few dishes wouldn’t be even close to an apology. “Cain, what you said then...” She couldn’t meet his eyes in case they held the same empty expression. Even thinking of it made her feel colder inside. “I...” This was too much. Chancing a glance, she saw only open confusion and curiosity—this was Cain, what was she worried for? “I’m sorry!”

“About—”

She threw her arms around him, forcing her eyes shut—Cain couldn’t see her face this way. “I—I care about  _you_. Not because of revenge, or because you’re Abel’s brother...I don’t know how to make you believe it anymore, and that’s my fault, I’m sorry.” She took a shuddering breath, willing away the lump in her throat. “I love you, Cain. Because you’re Cain, and no one else.”

Cain didn’t respond. As her heart dropped into her stomach, Leona slowly backed away—until she realized Cain was clutching onto her tighter than she was to him.

He was trembling. “Cain?” 

“You know, Abel actually overslept a lot.” He kept his voice unnaturally level, like he was delivering a report instead of talking about his deceased brother. “He never was that strict with himself...I used to wake him up sometimes, but he wouldn’t look worried no matter how late he was.”

He paused long enough to make it uncomfortably silent, but Leona didn’t dare break it. “And I wondered what it’d be like...if he was the one you were waking up instead of me.”

“Cain, don’t—“

“If I’d died instead of him, then wouldn’t you—“

“Cain!” She wouldn’t let him finish that sentence. “Don’t say things like that!”

For once even Cain was out of words, his affected composure breaking as he sobbed quietly into Leona’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Cain, I’m so sorry...” Tears pricked at her own eyes, but she refused to let them fall—not yet, not when Cain was shaking so violently she was afraid he’d shake apart. All she could do was hold him closer. 

“L-Leo—“ He choked. Leona rubbed his back until he sucked in a painful-sounding breath, finally stilling. 

“Of course I wish Abel was still here. But I wish he was here with  _us_ —if you were gone instead, I-I wouldn’t be happy either.” Abel was her beloved, and she was sure she’d miss him until she could join him.

But Cain was her dear brother-in-law, and to lose his unflinching ideals, his stubborn self-sacrificing strategies, the lengths he’d go to so no one would lose someone like they did—Leona couldn’t even imagine it. She didn’t  _want_  to imagine it. “So please... _please_  believe this.”

“I’m sorry.” It was barely a whisper, like he was afraid of acknowledging it. “I—“

“You’re not the one who has to apologize.” And for her, no amount of apologies would be enough. 

Cain shook his head. “But I never doubted that you cared about me. I thought you would be happier if…but, never that.” Conviction kept his voice steady. 

It was strangely hard to breathe. “Then...why? Why did you—the things you said before I fought Pholia, what did you—“

“But that day, I couldn’t find you at all!”

“What?” He sounded absolutely sure of himself, but Leona was sure of what she’d heard then, too. It wasn’t something she’d forget so easily.

“I was searching for you, and somehow I ended up waking up in a records room—”

“There? But that was where...”

“I swear, I don’t remember anything but waking up there.” 

“Then...that wasn’t you.” She’d thought he’d been acting strange, but his words had dug right at the fears hidden in her own heart. 

“Was there something that looked like me?” Cain had his serious thinking face on, but with his red eyes and tearstained cheeks, Leona just wanted to force him to sleep. “Or maybe someone was manipulating what I said? I think I heard about something similar,” he mused, picking up a book and quickly skimming through it.

“But you’re okay now?” As simple as it sounded, she didn’t care what the cause was, as long as it wasn’t Cain’s true feelings.

“Ah, yeah, I didn’t even realize until now, so...”

“I don’t just mean that.”

“...I’m fine.” It didn’t sound entirely like a lie, but Cain didn’t sound sure of himself either. “Just remembering... And you?”

“More than okay.” Leona took the book he was holding and gathered up the ones strewn across Cain’s bed. Somewhat surprisingly, he didn’t protest. “Join us for lunch tomorrow, alright?”

“Maybe I’ll even make it for you!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” 

“...I’ll get Reinhardtzar to make it!” he amends.

“Do I even want to know how you plan on that...”

Cain’s answering smile only raised her suspicions.

**Author's Note:**

> i have two modes, useless fluff or useless angst  
> wrote this in a weird haze at 1 am... it's really max self indulgence  
> also i keep forgetting cain and leona aren't actually siblings... siblings-in-law is probably close enough (is that even a word)  
> i hope this gets brought up at some point though? rn leona still thinks cain said those things right... h
> 
> yea i got a twitter ([@endsream](https://twitter.com/endsream))  
> if you want to see me crying about cain 24/7


End file.
